THE HALFAX HEIMDALL AUGUR

Why India Is Struggling in Football: The World's Most Popular Sport ... Facebook X Football, or soccer, is the planet’s most beloved sport, uniting billions with its simplicity, passion, and global appeal. Yet, for India — the world’s most populous country — it continues to be a story of unfulfilled potential. As of June 2026, the Indian men’s national team languishes at 138th in the FIFA rankings, near its lowest points in nearly a decade. Despite a massive population, a thriving Indian Super League (ISL), and growing fan enthusiasm, India has never qualified for the FIFA World Cup. The team has endured recent setbacks, including losses to lower-ranked sides and an early exit from the 2027 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers. What holds the Blue Tigers back? 1. Cricket’s Overwhelming Dominance Cricket reigns supreme in India, backed by the powerful BCCI and massive revenues from the IPL. Football gets far less media attention, sponsorship, and grassroots investment. Young talents chase cricket stardom rather than dreaming of European leagues or national team glory. This cultural priority severely limits the talent pool and participation at the base level. 2. Weak Grassroots Development and …

Let's football! A look at India's inability to play the beautiful game ... PTI On July 1, the smart, suave, knowledgeable, passionate, voluble — and sleep-deprived — followers of top-notch international football across the length and breadth of this well populated, cricket-junkie land were agog discussing the previous night’s two Euro group matches. Jude Bellingham’s 95th minute goal — and England’s lacklustre performance against Slovenia — was discussed threadbare as if it was Gareth Southgate’s waistcoat. Also hogging the Monday tika-chatter was Spain’s impressive win against Georgia, Rodri’s performance especially garnering rave reviews from those who know that the “j” in “La Roja” is pronounced as an “h”. The same day, FC Barcelona stopped all its football academies across Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Pune. Without giving any reason for its departure, the club stated on its website a fortnight before that the families of all the kids in its programme — which started operations in 2010 allowing “thousands of youngsters… [to] learn to play football in the Barça style and with the club’s values” — had been informed of operations being shut down. Titled, “Thank you for everyth…

India goes football crazy: Is politics holding the country back? In this edition of Access Asia, we explore why the world's most populous country struggles to qualify for the World Cup, despite a growing appetite for the sport. We also explore how artificial intelligence could be about to revolutionise medicine and blue-collar work.

Football: Why is India struggling to play the world’s most popular sport? As the 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off, 101 East explores why India struggles to compete in the world's most popular sport